Broken
by IckieZiegler
Summary: Dante and Lulu try to piece their marriage back together.
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

It should have taken more time for things to change and fall apart, but they never did anything slowly. When they fell in love it was quick and before they were even really together. They broke up quickly, got back together quickly, and got married without a second thought to everything that preceded it.

They wedding had been beautiful. She wore white even though she swore she wouldn't, and when he looked at her down the aisle everything in her world had pieced together perfectly. They made sense and fit together even when the edges were rough. They danced, drank, and made love the same way they did their first real night together.

It would have been so simple to wait and troubleshoot their problems within their relationship, but simple didn't seem to fit their life plan. A year went by and they were the perfect newlyweds. The second year went by and he had chosen to spend more late nights at the office. Towards their third year as a married couple she chose to spend her late nights with someone else.

He wasn't aware of it until one night they both managed to end up at Jake's without as much as a word to each other. He watched her sing and dance on stage with an older man. The smile that brightened her face hasn't been placed there by him in months, and he watched as her eyes never left the other man. She was smiles and giggles until she came across her husband in the crowd. Then the night had turned into nothing but drinks for the both of them.

Two months went by where he couldn't even look at her knowing that she had let someone else touch what was his, but it wasn't as if he was touching her either. He resented her not just for having an affair, but for making him feel like he was at fault. She never once told him that, but he knew deep down it was. He never reconciled his priories and when he wouldn't show her the love she needed she went looking elsewhere. Logically it made perfect sense, but there was no amounts of logic to stop pain in his gut when he realized his marriage could be over when he hadn't give it a change to begin.

There were times when she didn't feel like it was worth living, but thoughts like that were forbidden her family. It was a sign of weakness. In her mind there was no way to move forward and neither of them was willing to live in the present. The past continued to dissolve behind them.

The affair started as a flirtation that was innocent on the base level, but then brief quips turned into lengthy conversations. They found any excuse just to be around each other as if it were fresh air in their trapped lives. She had initiated the first hug, but the kiss was planted on her without permission. Before she could conceive what was happening to her hands were roaming her body, and she began to feel the physical pleasure she had been missing. The talking started and sex was all that was left. No matter how much gratification he gave her she never loved him. Deep in her heart, soul, and every inch of her being something longed for her husband.

It all ended two months ago and she was just a bystander as her lover's marriage fell apart. She feared for her own. Her husband still slept in bed next to her even though not so much as a finger crossed the enemy lines to her side. She was beginning to forget what it felt like to be in his arms, the softness of his lips, and the firmness of his body. She ached for it all. Even his voice was a shadow from a former life.

"Do you still love me, Lulu?" He had asked her out of nowhere and startled her as she poured her coffee one more. "Are you still in love with me?"

His words broke her soul in two and she fought back every emotion to respond as clearly as she could. "I am always going to be in love with you, Dante."

His eyes met hers for the first time in so long. He looked deep for the woman he had first fallen in love with. "I love you too." He watched as she unabashedly cried as his revelation. "I really love you… and I don't want us to end like this."

"I don't want us to end at all."

**Author's Note:** I was so so so so so nervous about writing this story because I'm almost sure everyone will hate me for Lulu having an affair…which in my opinion is a lot better than Dante having an affair. Please tell me what you think of it, and who do you think Lulu had the affair with?

Title is after the song "Broken" by Seether.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

"This doesn't feel right. We're not therapy kind of people," Lulu said as she laced her fingers together and held them tightly in her lap. She looked around the room to find generic paintings on white walls. They sat on an uncomfortable gray couch that was too solid underneath them facing a chair that looked fluffy. She figured it would have been easy to take a nap on that chair.

"Actually we are therapy people," Dante sardonically referenced their past. She had once been institutionalized, and he had gone through mandatory counseling after his first shooting as an officer. He sat more loosely than she did. His legs spread apart and comfortable letting his back fall farther into the couch. The firmness created an ache in his lower back, but if he tried to move he would have ended up accidentally touching his wife. That hadn't yet been an option.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Falconeri," the familiar doctor greeted them, and they responded with polite yet inconstant smiles. "It's nice to see you again, Lulu."

"Can't say the same, Kevin. I mean, Dr. Collins."

"So we're are here today to work on your marriage. What is the state of your marriage at this current moment?"

Lulu looked to her husband before answering, "We've kind of just been living in the same house for a while now." Dante perked up to listen to her answer. "It's been a long time since we've even talked, I don't actually remember the last time we had sex…"

"…with each other," her husband interjected. He saw his wife wince. She bit her lip and looked down at her hands. "Lulu had an affair with a friend of ours…" he started bitterly, but then in a remorseful tone continued, "…but that's over now."

"How long have the two of you been married?"

"Three years," Lulu said feebly.

"How long were you together before you got married?"

"Two years," he answered at the same time she answered, "A year and a half." She shook her head with the smallest smile. He continued, "I chased after Lulu for a long time. She pretended that we weren't dating, but we really were. She was into me." The bit of warmth came from his own smile when he looked at her.

"When did your affair start?" Kevin went for the direct hit and shattered the small pleasant moment in to pieces at their feet.

"Earlier this year… Eight months ago maybe."

"How did it start?" Her eyes widened and she looked back and forth between her husband and the doctor. "Dante needs to hear and understand this just as much as you do. This is a vital part of the process."

"Patrick… I would run into him at the hospital all the time. He's a neurosurgeon there. We would joke when we saw it each other and then we started running into each other at Jake's. I liked to go out when Dante was working late… We just talked about everything… and then we started not talking so much…"

"Were you in love with him?" She had expected the question from her husband, but not their therapist. She wasn't sure why it felt less intrusive coming from a virtual stranger.

"I loved that he wanted me and that he was in love with me. I was never in love with him. ...I was using him…"

"Why did the affair end?"

"After Dante found out Patrick kept talking about leaving his wife. He wanted me to leave Dante, and for us to be together…to become a family with his daughter, Emma."

"But that's not what you wanted?"

"I didn't want to leave my marriage…even if I was ruining it. I never wanted my marriage to be over." She could feel Dante's eyes burning into her cheek and her fingers shook in her lap. His assumptions dissolved the more she spoke.

"You're not tempted to leave me?" His words left his mouth callously. "Now that Patrick has left Robin, you're not tempted to leave me for a man who would have time for you, who wants you, because apparently I didn't?"

"I never once blamed you for my mistake, Dante!" It was the first moment of firm confidence behind her reply. "I'm the one who slept with another man and I know there is no excuse for that. Stop trying to make me use you as a scapegoat!" She was nearly yelling.

"This is interesting." Dr. Collins leaned forward in his chair. "Dante, do you blame yourself for Lulu's affair with Dr. Drake?"

"Yeah… I kind of do. I don't blame her for getting attention somewhere else," as he spoke he watched Lulu who refused look back. "I stopped coming home, being home. I would show up just to sleep and shower without saying much. I kept getting these big cases, and I had to put my name on all of them."

"He has to be super cop," Lulu spat. "I don't think I'm the only one having an affair in this marriage." Dante seemed to be cut by her words.

"When you married me you knew how important my job was to me. You knew why I became a cop, and we had been together long enough for you to know…"

"We had been together long enough for you to pretend that I was a priority!" She yelled at him. "You could have been a great cop and talked to your wife every other day. Hell, before we were married you used to talk to me about your cases. You'd say I'd help you think the few times I saw you." She turned her attention to Kevin, and continued to talk in the same passionate anger. "The only time I would see him was when I would bring him coffee or food. He wouldn't even bother trying to see me or calling me anymore. Hell…this was before we were even married!"

"Then why did you marry him?" Kevin's question stabbed wholes into charged response they had both been given, and their demeanor reverted back to the same way it was when he had walked in. "Lulu, if Dante was already neglecting you then why did you marry him?"

"I loved him. I was so in love with him that any amount of having him in my life was worth…everything." She began to cry. "I actually thought that once we were married that maybe things wouldn't be the same, because we would be sharing a home… a life together. After we got married things were different. He had time for me." A chuckle absorbed the irony as she continued, "He actually brought me breakfast and lunch at work."

"What changed, Dante?"

"I don't know. Things got busy. We were making busts left and right all over Port Charles. I didn't have time anymore."

"You didn't have time for your wife?"

"I… Uh…" Dante stammered. "I don't know. I guess not. Apparently not, I kept working and she started screwing another man."

"Would you say you took your wife for granted?"

"Yes. And I hate myself for it."

"Don't do that," Lulu whispered. He saw tears drip down her cheeks.

"I feel like I ruined our marriage and left it open for you to find someone else. I don't understand why you didn't leave me for him. He's a doctor who saves lives and has a kid. He still managed to find time for you; to make love to you and talk to you."

"It wasn't love. For me it wasn't love," she corrected. "For me it was being with another man and pretending he was you." The revelation shook him to his bones.

**Author's Note:** Mel asked me to update again and I'm now scared of zou2. I hope you like it and please review.


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

Dante and Lulu were both lying on their sides facing away from each other. The charted territory of their bed had been divided in its usual fashion as if nothing had changed at all. Their home was still filled with silence when they returned from their first therapy session; because neither could find the words they wanted to express the emotions they couldn't yet identify.

He wasn't sure if she would fit into his arms anymore, but he desperately longed to pull her into them. His reluctance to touch her was where their problems all started in his opinion even if she would never agree. Deep in this thoughts and contemplating he almost didn't notice the shifting in the bed. Her fingers brushed across his shoulder and sent a bolt through his body. He nearly jumped. He turned around to face to the beautiful face of his estranged wife. "I think it's stupid that we both went to bed when neither of us is tired." She smiled at him. It was probably the closest she had been to him in their bed in over a year.

"What else were we going to do?" It wasn't his intention to make her smile vanish, but he had that effect.

"Can I ask you something?" He gestured his agreement. "In all that time you weren't home were you ever with someone else?"

"You thought I was having an affair?" He was astounded even though it was a perfectly logical fear for her to have. He had spent so many nights not coming home and the worse the case got the more distant he was. It pained him to think that he had put her in a position to question his love and commitment to her, especially if that led to her questioning her own love an commitment to him. "I never once gave a second thought to another woman. Is that why you started sleeping with Patrick? Revenge?" He didn't ask angerly. The softness of their bed smoothed the edges of the uncomfortable conversation.

"No. Being with Patrick was stupid, me being stupid, nothing to do with what you were or weren't doing… and I would do anything to take it back."

"I believe you," he admitted after contemplating for a moment.

"I don't know why you haven't divorced me already. How you could still love me…" He could see her holding back her tears and she melted further into her pillow with closed eyes. The 'd' on her lips made him want to quit life.

"Have you been thinking about that? Divorce?"

"I've been waiting for it."

"You filed for a divorce!" His body shook with a sudden panic.

"No! I was sure you would though. I cheated on you, on us, and we've been living like strangers. Do we even know each other anymore?"

"I don't know… I want us to know each other. Whatever it is that has happened, however we've treated each other, it hasn't been us."

"But it has been us. It's been the worst of us."

"I stand by my vows, Lulu."

"I already broke mine." Her voice cracked. There was no arguing the fact and wishing it away wasn't doing him any good. For the first time in slow long he reached his hand out and placed it on top of hers. The most intimate touch in what could have been a year. "I don't want to live like this anymore." She held on to his hand for life support. "It all hurts to much to see you every day and pretend like you're not the man I fell in love with or to have you look at me as if I'm not the woman you married." He leaned up in the bed and wiped the tears from her eyes. His skin absorbed her pain. "The silence is killing me, Dante. I can't do it anymore." His hand traveled from her cheek, down her shoulder, until it had reached the small of her back. Slowly he traced small circles, and the memories of what her skin felt like sunk into his soul. "I miss you all the time. I always have."

"Shh…" He soothed. "I know, baby, I've missed you too." He lifted her until her check was against his chest and the wish he had to have her in his arms was fulfilled. She fit the same way she used to with her curves curled against his body. "We're working on, right? I think the marriage counseling is actually going to help. Today went good, right?" Her face was buried in his chest. "We still love each other. That has to count for something."

"What if that's not enough? What if being married is why we're…" She was going to say ruined and he knew it. His nerves were thankful she had managed to restrain herself.

"Our marriage… being married to each other… that is the greatest thing we, or I have ever done. We were the problem, but our marriage. And we're going to fix it because there is no me without you."

"You've been without me for a long time now."

"No. That was the corpse of a man formerly known as Dante Falconeri. That wasn't me. I'm pretty sure if I hadn't had you to come home to every once and while that I would have stopped existing all together."

"I hate myself for what I've done to you," she said in a solid whisper.

"Don't talk like that." He closed his eyes and squeezed her closer to him. "All the mistakes we made, no matter what they were, we made them together, and we're going to fix them, okay?" He tried to take a deep breath, but three short ones were all he could manage before cracks began to appear in his words. "Because no matter how stupid I have been you are the most important person in my love, you are the love of my life, and that is never going to change." Finally what he had been repressing for so long feel from his lips. "I love you."

"I love you so much," she responded confidently in spite of her shaking nerves.

**Author's Note:** This chapter is dedicated to Liz whose review inspired me to continue writing updating tonight. Not because her review was a rave…which it was, but because when I got it I was rather down on myself. It was a matter of perfect timing and it didn't tell me how to write my story. I truly appreciate it. Thank you very much, Liz.

The reason I said I was scared of Zou2 is because I also post majority of my stories on Written in the Stars. On there she threatened me with physical harm if I did not continue with this story.

Thank you so much to everyone else who reviewed to my story. The reason I ask for comments is because they mean so much to me. I hope you continue to like and review my stories.


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

The sun caused a moment of early disorientation. It pained Dante to open his eyes with even the slightest squint. He pulled them tight and his arms unintentionally followed suit. It had been so long since he felt a body against his. He felt Lulu's breast move against with every breath she took and her smaller hand unconsciously rubbing slow circles on his torso. His lower region began to react in more than just the usual morning habit. For a moment he felt like he had been thrown back in time where their position and reactions were daily occurrence.

Her curves rolled against him causing further strain. "Good morning," she giggled in a rough and feisty morning voice. She rolled off his body and left him feeling naked in spite of him being completely clothed. She sat herself up on the edge of the bed that was labeled her side. She rubbed her eyes, yawned, and stretched. Her breasts were perfectly visible from the side of her tank top, and he felt faint taunt him. She was his wife and yet reaching out and touching her the way he wanted did not seem like a viable option.

"Morning," he cleared his throat. The more he longed to touch the more he felt the memories boil in his gut. He was not the last man to touch her. It was almost as if her body belonged to someone else now.

"Last night…" She twisted around to smile at him. "I enjoyed it. Talking to you… being close to you… again." Every feature of her being made him believe she was sincere.

"Yeah," he grunted. The response left her with a glimmer of hurt that ached. "It's just… Kind of have a problem." He gestured to his groin and an intrigued smile reentered her face.

"I can help you with that…" She crawled over to him on the bed. Her breasts showing the full extent of her cleavage as she leaned down, her shirt pulled up to expose her tightly covered underwear, and yet he felt like he couldn't move.

"Maybe another time," he could not have said more quickly as he jumped out of the bed, and more importantly away from her. "I am going to be late for work. Nothing a quick shower couldn't take care of…" He didn't dare look at her as he rushed out of the room.

She fell to the bed and held her breath; anything to keep the sting of tears at bay. There would never be a point in time where she would be used to her husband's rejection. Every time he had something better to do, every time he chose to spend himself in the shower, and each moment he chose to be anywhere else stabbed her in the gut. It didn't matter how long it had been. It was a constant reminder that there was something wrong with her, and she believed that until another man finally took up the courage to fulfill her physical needs. The irony that the circumstance of another man pleasuring her was probably why she was still dejected from her marital bed was not lost on her, and with that realization she openly wept.

He could hear her from the bathroom no matter how quiet and scarce she tried to make her pain. So much time had been spent within him to forgive her, to make her forgive himself, and yet his actions told a different story. He wanted to make it all go away, make love to his wife, and make life the way it should have always been. Something just physically made him incapable.

By the time the shower was finished he had found her completely dressed finishing breakfast alone. There was no plate made from him and she hardly acknowledged him when she walked out the door. A defense mechanism to keep herself from breaking down in front of him again, because her mind had decided the night before was just pity. He pitied the way she openly mourned their marriage, and now she could not stomach any other fake gestures. In spite of any of her actions, there was nothing more important to her, and she would not allow it to be mocked. Not even by her husband.

There was no amount of kicking himself that would comfort himself as he took himself to work. He had no chases that needed to be worked on, he didn't even need to be in the building, and yet he had chosen it above her yet again. It was his autopilot, and his default told him to get away from her. He would spend the day seething at this desk knowing that she was at work with the man who had treated her better. "Dante… What are you doing here? You're paper work is up to date and I don't have a case for you…" The Police Commissioner was not as surprised to see him as he would any other officer.

"I… don't know," Dante admitted.

"Detective Falconeri, you are relieved for the day. Get out of my precinct." Mac made a show in an announcement sounding voice. He leaned closer to Dante and whispered in his ear, "I understand what it's like for the job to get in the way of real life. Don't make the same mistakes. Go home and be with Lulu." The advice resonated with the intense regret he had been struggling with since he first got out of bed. Unconsciously he started to make his way to the hospital.

Lulu Falconeri had become an administrator at the Port Charles General Hospital after she had gotten married. Something about being pestered by an in-law at all hours of the night, being harassed by an unappreciative boss, and unfair pay lost its appeal. Her brother had worked his magic to find her a challenging job where she could help others, and slowly over the three years she developed a passion for it. A passion her husband thought was just to be near a certain doctor.

"Mrs. Falconeri…" Her assistant's shaky voice called to her through the intercom. "Your husband is here to see you." The exact phrase hadn't been uttered in so long. There was a time when she would hear it a couple of times a day, then maybe once a day, once a week, and then never again.

"Send him in. Always," she pressed the button on her phone and replied.

"Mrs. Falconeri," Dante quipped as he entered the door with a smile, but she wasn't going to play along like this morning wasn't just another example of their struggling marriage. "I know you're mad…"

"I'm not mad. Not at you anyway…" She consulted and then paused. Her demeanor from hear head down to her toes changed. "Actually, I am angry. I thought you forgave me. That we were going to forgive each other and try!" She tried to control the volume of her sharply edged voice.

"I'm trying! Look, just because I didn't feel like having sex this morning…"

"Are you kidding me?" She actually yelled, and then began to whisper, "Our entire family could have camped out under that tent you were pitching in bed. You were rock solid. I could feel it when I was waking up, and then you kept growing…" She looked away and exhaled a deep breath. "You jumped away from me like I was a disease…" He watched as she began to shatter before him. "…and I get it. I do. You don't have to pretend…"

"I'm not pretending…" He hurried over until he was only a couple of inches in front of her. His hands rested on her shoulders until they fell in order to rub her arms. "I'm just not ready… yet. I mean… we haven't even kissed yet. We usually started with the kissing."

"What did you think I was going to do? Immediately land on your penis? No segue, no nothing?"

"I just need to start this slow… To trust…"

"That I'm not screwing someone else too!"

"Please stop interrupting me!" He demanded and let go of her. "Alright, I think about you and sex and suddenly it's not me in the picture. It's someone else and I'm trying so hard to get that out of my head. I can forgive that you did it, but it doesn't make the idea of him on your skin go away. It doesn't make it easier to pretend that it didn't happen."

"It happened! It happened over there…" She gestured to the couch and then to the desk. "…and it happened there. It happened all over the freaking hospital!" He closed his eyes to try and wash the imagine of Patrick laying his wife down on the desk, her naked body writhing under him, and what was sure to be intense satisfaction. "…and there's nothing I can do about it anymore. I can't make it un-happen," her yell turned into a sob. "I would do anything… anything to take it back. To make it go away and make it okay for you to touch me again."

"Lulu…"

"I can't fix it and make it better, Dante. This part is all on you. I can apologize and mean it until the cows come home, but that isn't going to change the fact that I had sex with someone else. Sex, Dante, not making love or any other crap like that. You can either get past that or you can't, and if you can't then there is no point in trying to fix our marriage."

He froze for a moment. "Are you saying that if I don't start immediately sleeping with you that you don't want to try and fix our marriage? That we're just over?"

"Of course not! I'm saying that if you don't want to try to get past the fact that I slept with someone else then we're never going to be fixed. If the only reason you'll touch me is because you pity me…"

"I don't pity you! When the hell did I pity you?" He was dumbfounded by the accusation.

"Last night! Why else would you hold me?"

"You think that I fell asleep with you in my arms because I pitied you?" He onto the couch she had previously mentioned having sex on. He shook the thought and focused on the more important issue at hand.

"Why else would you hold me last night and then practically…"

"I held you last night because I wanted to hold my wife for the first time…I don't know how long!" He was so stern she was startled, and slightly turned on. "I want you, Lulu, and I don't pity you. I pity us because of the mess we've made of our marriage. The reason I'm not rushing to just screw you at earliest opportunity is because we have to get this right. If we don't then we could be over for good, and I don't think I can live with that. I can't live in a world where we couldn't even try to make things work." His words soaked into through her skin and into her heart. He got up to be close to her again, and took her hands into his. "I am trying. I do want you." He smiled and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "Just give me time, give us time…" After he spoke slowly his face turned serious, "…and you're going to need to replace the couch and desk in here. I can live with the fact that it happened, but…"

"Do you want me to quit my job?" It wasn't the first time the thought had crossed her mind. She would see him, the other man, in the hallway looking at her longingly. A constant remind her of the betrayal and only added to her contempt. She had broken his heart which pained her, because it wasn't as if she had no feelings for him at all. Then she had broken the trust and heart of her husband who she loved more than anything she could conceive. Most importantly she had broken herself in her heart and her soul. Strips of the person she had been were ripped off her with every adulterous encounter and every post-affair glance. "Would that help?"

He looked her directly in the eyes while he contemplated his answer."I hate the idea that he's here around you every day, but I need to learn to trust that you won't go there again. I do trust that you won't sleep with him again. I'm not going to ask you to quit a job you love just to make me feel for secure."

"I would…you know, if you wanted me to. I would do anything…" She was interrupted by him resting his forehead on hers. She inhaled the breath and shivered from the top of her spine to the bottom.

"Let's just do this one step at a time. We're getting help, and we're going slow." He leaned down and lightly pressed his lips to hers. "Very slowly." He repeated his action. He could feel her body convulse in response to his touch, his kiss, and it made him want her more. The next kiss took on a suddenly mouths were open, tongues were shared, and breath became scarce.

**Author's Note:** You know how there is sexual frustration… I've been having writing frustration because I have been studying for midterms, which is why this chapter is basically twice the length of its usual size. I hope really hope you like it and please don't forget to review.


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**  
**song** present _past_

**Old friend, why are you so shy?  
Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light,**

It was strange for something so familiar to feel brand new. To be kissed goodbye, to be kissed at all. It curled her toes in the little bit of room her shoes allowed for. They had just made their way out of her office in an attempt to say goodbye so she could get back to the work she was meant to be doing. "I really don't want you to go," Lulu said between more kisses. Butterflies fluttered in her chest and her stomach with every single one. She was beginning to shake from the excitement.

"I love you," Dante said smiling before going for another kiss. A longer deeper kiss and she nearly lifted her off the ground and held her directly against his body. "I'll see you at home." A simple peck and he managed to walk away.

Patrick's heart wrenched within ear shot. The entire display was in his peripheral vision. She saw her watch her husband leave with a huge smile on her face that caused her to bite her lip. She was excited, giddy even, and all without him.__

"So, this is your new office!" It was her first day at the new job her brother had managed to find or basically create for her. "They'll send you a temp until you find an assistant you want."

"Seriously? The head neurosurgeon has nothing better than to give a well seasoned patient a tour of the hospital?" She quipped at him. "I'm sure you have at least one of my relatives to operate on at any given moment in time. Shouldn't you be doing that?"

"I think I actually achieved my Spencer quota in the first month of the year."

She chucked, "I'm sure one of us will be back in your operating room soon enough."

"Until then, Nikolas asked me to show you to your office…. Which is nicer then my exam room by the way." His eyes squinted as she surveyed the room. There was a nice desk in the middle with what was sure to be a comfortable chair. A couch pushed to the far left side and an empty book shelf on the opposite side. He walked over to the bookcase. "For all your medical journals."

"Hey! I might have books…" she trailed off. "…someday…"

"What exactly is it you'll be doing anyway?"

"I'm the official administrator for Emergency and Surgical needs… so play nice. I decide how much money you get to spend and what on. Piss me off and no scalpels for you."

"I guess I better make nice with the boss then. Drinks after Jake's to celebrate?"

"Absolutely. Dante and I were probably going to end up there anyway."

  
**You know how the time flies,  
Only yesterday was the time of our lives,  
We were born and raised in a summer haze,  
Bound by the surprise of our glory days,**__

"I know this is going to sound incredibly inappropriate… but Robin's an idiot," Lulu told him from across the table. She took another slow slip of her coffee.

"It's my fault. I am the one that made that mistake with Lisa…" Patrick confided.

"Mistake and you were practically a victim. That woman had crazy written all over her and men are usually oblivious to it. She used to be a friend and she schemed until she got what she wanted."

"It was still a choice. I still choose to sleep with Lisa in spite of everything. I still deserve all the consequences that follow."

"I thought you said she said she forgave you?"

"Yeah. Turns out her idea of forgiveness is to let me live in the same house and not filing for divorce. Wait. No. …filing for divorce but not going through with it."

"That sounds like my marriage," she confided. "Only I'm still trying to figure out what I did wrong. It was like one moment we're this blissfully happy newlywed couple and then the next second he hardly offers a grunt of acknowledgement when he comes home. I'm not sure what the point of him coming home is anymore. It sure as hell isn't to see me…" She mindlessly stirred her coffee. "I'm so sorry. You come here to tell me your problems and all I can do is unload my own issues."

"Don't apologize. You've been great. You manage to listen to my marital problems all the time. I'll happily return the favor… well… not happily as in that I'm happy you're having problems in your marriage… but I'm always here if you need someone to listen."

"That'll be great."  


Lulu was already sitting at a table eating out of her styrofoam container when he entered the break room. She cursed herself for the awkwardness. She could have easily just eaten at her desk, but after spending hours in the small room it was nice to have a small break. She tried not to watch as he sat down at a completely different table and pulled items out of his small paper bag. "You'd think a fancy doctor like yourself could afford more than peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," she joked.

"Don't do that," he replied instantly. He didn't sound cold but hurt; as if her voice stung against his skin. "We can't make jokes and just pretend."

"So, we're never going to be friends again? Never have a conversation that isn't about the surgical budget or the shortage of qualified surgical nurses?" She could hear herself getting defensive.

"I don't know! I honestly couldn't tell you, because it still hurts, Lulu. Seeing you happy with your husband… Seeing you, hearing you at all still hurts like hell, and I'm trying to move on. Maybe we will be friends someday, but right now just being around… " He got up in disgust and started to repack his lunch. "I'm just trying to move on," he repeated in a deflated voice before going to leave.

"I'm sorry," she softly offered. He stood in the doorway for a moment holding it in before leaving all together. Her own lunch lost its taste and she threw it out.

**I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited,  
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it,  
I had hoped you'd see my face,  
And that you'd be reminded that for me it isn't over,**

Work had finally called him with something to do, and sadly that was to take a statement from a brutally beaten woman. A victim of domestic violence, and he had just finished up. Dante came across the doctor when he turned the corner. He had told himself to just walk away, because there was the increasing possibility he could only make things worse for him and his marriage. His instincts told another story. "Every part of me wants to punch you right in the face," he said out loud as he approached the other man. His instincts had obviously won in the end.

"I would deserve it," Patrick could not argue the point if he tried. "I won't even fight it if that's what you want."

"Would hitting you take it back? Take back all the times you touched my wife, tried to replace me, begged her to leave me for you…" Dante was whispering through grinded teeth. He followed the doctor as he led to a more remote corner of the large room.

"You can tell me how much you hate me, and I will deserve every second of it. But you will not do it in front of the other staff. I have to work with them, and if it were just a matter of comfort it wouldn't matter… but it's our job to save lives. Them seething with hatred for me the way you are could only…"

"Would only make it more embarrassing that you tried to ruin another marriage because yours was too miserable?" Dante scoffed.

"What do you want Dante? I can't take it back, I'm not sure I would if I could, so what do you want?" His daring words sliced at the detective. Dante slipped into a chair facing the window in the small cubby they were standing in. He kept shaking his head.

"You don't even regret it? What you've done to her? What you may have cost her?" His eyes were focused out the window as Patrick took a seat next to him.

"I wish I did. It would be so much easier…" Every time he saw her in the hall way, in the parking lot, anywhere else felt like a blade to his stomach, to his heart. He had given his entire soul into their sinful adulterous affair. "I fell in love with her…"

"I can't blame you for that," Dante scoffed. "If I had been a better husband you wouldn't have been able to squeeze your way into her life in the first place…"

"If I would have been lucky enough for her to love me back then I would not apologize for a god damn thing, but she doesn't love me. She never did. She does love you though…"

"When I realized you two had been… I wanted to kill you and probably wanted to kill myself even more than that," he admitted. "I guess I should feel sorry for you. I don't have to live without Lulu, but you do." His taunting words slowly formed into warnings. "I can pity you now, but if you ever try to make a move on my wife again I will gut you!"

_  
He recognized the voice from where he stood outside the door to the establishment. The cheerfulness sounded foreign to his ears. After a long day at work where the only thing he could think about were victims of heinous crimes he needed a drink. He never gave a moment's thought to calling home, giving any explanation for his whereabouts, because it did not seem to mattered if she cared or not. The only thing that mattered for that second in time was erasing the pictures he had seen from his memory. That was until he walked into the bar to see his wife._

Lulu was on stage, somewhere she didn't particularly like to be, but she looked to love every second of it. She sang into the microphone without the worry of being on key. A large smile occupied her face as she was twirled around by an older man, their friend, Dr. Patrick Drake.

As he watched he took into account how beautiful he was just like in his memories from before they were married. Happiness looked good on her as she spun around and danced on stage. He found himself paying close attention to the way her body would brush across the other man in their dance. The dizziness of her final twirl landed her body directly against Patrick and she lingered. Her fingers rested on his torso for a moment too long as if it were familiar to the spot and to the man. Dante's eyes widened as Patrick's hand came up around her waist and held her to him like a protective or possessive show of affection. The song ended with applause and whistles.

Lulu's eyes left the bubble of comfort and fun that surrounded her on stage only to meet her husband's dark glow. Signs of panic, terror, and remorse passed expressed themselves on her face giving him all the confirmation he needed. He started to feel himself ripped in half and slammed his beer on to the bar. He could hardly handle breathing let alone looking at her again.

  
**Nothing compares,  
No worries or cares,  
Regrets and mistakes, they're memories made,  
Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?**__

"Why not?" He kept asking with tears at bay. "We could start over and make a great new life together."

"Patrick, you have a daughter and we both already have lives here." She hadn't realized how hard it would be, because it was never meant to hurt.

"I'm not talking about leaving Emma. I'm talking about leaving Robin, who is pretty much gone anyway, and you leaving Dante so we can put our failed marriages behind us. We were both miserable until we found each other and now we don't have to hide it anymore. We can be together and build a life that will actually make us happy." He realized he was pleading against her stiff silence. "Lulu…"

"Please don't say it, please," she begged. Her eyes closed tight as she shook her head and felt the tears slowly fall down her cheeks. Her fingers gripped the edge of the table she was sitting on even tighter than before.

"Lulu… I love you. I am in love with you."

"I'm in love with my husband." He felt her response coming, but he had to hear her say the words to know it was over. They looked deep into each other's eyes and watched the tears come one by one until he could not stand it any longer.

  
She did not intend to pick up on the conversation, because it was no longer her business. Technically it never truly was hers, because they never truly belonged to each other in spite of any sexual or emotional connection they had shared with each other. She had come to the nurses' station to pick up schedules and other papers necessary for her to do her job. "Elizabeth…" She heard from behind her.

"Hey, Patrick, what can I do for you," Her former sister-in-law asked in a chipper voice.

"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to have dinner with me tomorrow night," he asked and Lulu could sense the nervousness in his voice without even having to look at him. It reassured her that it wasn't just for her benefit.

"Patrick… I don't know. Robin's my friend…"

"Robin is gone and she's not coming back. Our marriage is over. It ended a long time ago," he cleared his throat and continued. "Just think about it, okay? It would be my pleasure to have dinner with you." Lulu nearly smiled at the familiar charm in his voice. He was actually moving on like he promised he would, and the sad comfort of it all washed over her.

**Nevermind, I'll find someone like you,  
I wish nothing but the best for you,  
Don't forget me, I beg,  
I remember you said,  
"Sometimes it lasts in love,  
But sometimes it hurts instead."**

Lulu slid the door of the elevator back to reveal her home lit up. She spent a second trying to remember if she had left the lights on when she left for work earlier that morning. "Hey…" Her husband greeted her as he walked the few steps out of their kitchen and over to her. He kissed her directly on the lips.

"Hey…?" She reciprocated even though she was confused. "I figured you'd be working."

"I hear weird people go home to their wives when they're done working," his words dripped with the charm she had once known and fell for. She couldn't stop herself from smiling. She slid her arms around his shoulders and kissed more deeply. "What was that for?"

"I like this… coming home to you."

**Author's Note:** It would be so easy to make Patrick a villain, but Patrick didn't prey on Lulu. He may have been the one she chose to have an affair with, but his feelings for Lulu were genuine. That does not justify his actions or Lulu's, but it is difficult to persecute him and still be able to root for Lulu fixing her marriage with Dante.

This chapter meant a lot to me and I hope you enjoyed it. The song is "Someone Like You" by Adelle. I recommend looking it up on youtube. There is a live version from her home in which she explains the song and in general I just think it suits this situation like a glove. It is probably the most inspiring song I have ever come across.

Thank you for continuing to read. I hope it's worth your time. Please review.

P.S. Sorry Scrubs fans


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

Lulu slid the door of the elevator back to reveal her home lit up. She spent a second trying to remember if she had left the lights on when she left for work earlier that morning. "Hey…" Her husband greeted her as he walked the few steps out of their kitchen and over to her. He kissed her directly on the lips.

"Hey…?" She reciprocated even though she was confused. "I figured you'd be working."

"I hear weird people go home to their wives when they're done working," his words dripped with the charm she had once known and fell for. She couldn't stop herself from smiling. She slid her arms around his shoulders and kissed more deeply. "What was that for?"

"I like this… coming home to you."

"Good!" Dante kissed her again with a renewed fervor. "You better get used to it," he told her between each passionate peck while his hands rediscovered her body. Without warning she found herself rid of her coat and her purse on the ground. He pulled away and took inventory of her features. She looked bewildered, excited, and out of breath. Her skin was flushed and her lips a little bit swollen. "You're beautiful," he said in a whispered tone and a big grin spread across his face. "I've missed this…" Lulu's face turned pained and she pulled out of his arms. Her body left his and walked over to the couch in what felt like slow motion to them both. "What… what's wrong?"

"It's just been a really long day…" She half-heartedly tried to spin a benevolent lie. She pulled together a smile. "I am glad you're home though. It's hard to remember the last time I saw you before… before sun down." In her mind she was thinking before she was asleep and he knew it.

"Really?" His tone changed the temperature in the room from a warm welcoming to Arctic. "I'm putting in an effort here! I am here! Why does it have to be about before?" he yelled more at the walls than at her. She still flinched and he found himself taking deep breaths. "I don't understand what the problem is if I'm actually trying. I'm not a work. I chose to come home. I thought that would make you happy!"

"Are you happy? Would you rather be at work?"

"Up until a second ago life was good… again… finally… Right now… yeah, I'd rather be at work. At least I'd be useful."

"Excuse me?" Her voice echoed. She wiped the tears she was hiding from him and stood up to meet his level. "It's nice to know that's how much I matter! This marriage matters! I'm not ready to have sex with you so you'd rather be somewhere else because that's all your good for? Are you kidding me!" Her words blew him back. He felt like a child whose mother was teaching him a lesson at his highest octave. Only this was not his mother and therefore not something he could weasel out of it by simply being cute. This was his wife and there was no tried and true handbook. "If all you want is to get laid, Dante, then you should have just gone and paid for it like any other self-respecting neglectful husband!" Each word was a new punch to the stomach followed by the roundhouse kick of the bathroom door slamming behind her. Suddenly the shower quaked through the walls and he knew she was in there to cry.

He found himself continuously walking over to the door and hardly managing to shop himself from knocking. In his gut he want wanted to bang on the door and beg her to come out. He would admit to being an ass, say it wasn't about sex, and just ask to hold her because holding her in bed was still new in the familiar way it had been years ago. He practiced the speech in his head and did not notice the door open and close behind his back.

"I was hoping you were still in bed," her voice startled his thoughts. He turned around to see her wearing nothing but a towel. Her wet hair clumped together across her shoulders and dripped water down her body. The sight made him want to be an animal again, but he fought his impulses due to the sight of her still puffy eyes.

"I couldn't sleep with… after…" He took a deep breath and exhaled audibly. "I'm so sorry. It's not about sex. I promise you, baby, I swear that it's not about the sex." He rushed over and took her free hand into his. The other hand was unfortunately busy holding up the towel. "I mean… I do miss the sex, but not nearly as much as I miss you. There nothing more important…"

"Then why did you say that you wished you were at work where you would be more useful?" Her voice scratched against her throat and she tore at him with her own words. She didn't sound bitter but the altercation still resonated. "If you don't want to be her…" She couldn't look at him. "…you don't have to be. If you would rather be at work then go back to work. I've gotten used to going to bed alone." Her shoulders shrugged, the hand he was holding dropped, and she nearly laughed as the words left her mouth.

"I do not want to be anywhere else. I'm sorry I behaved like an ass." He pushed passed the personal assault and remained calm. "I really am. I want to be here… with you. I was just trying to go back to the way it used to be. Like when I first got this place."

"When it was your place," she remembered in a corrective tone. "…but it's not your place, it's our place. We're not the same people we used to be… I mean, we are, but so much has happened. We've done so much and we can't go back. We can't pretend that you come home every night or that I…" She didn't want to say it again. She was sick of thinking about it. "We can't just have sex and make all the pain go away… and we're not supposed to rush into sex in the first place. Dr. Collins made that perfectly clear. It's not a problem solver."

"Lulu, is this about me? Do you still…want me? Did you stop?"

She made a loud, exasperated, and angry noise before storming her way to the dresser. "At what point did anything I just said sound like I'm not attracted to you anymore?"

"None…. I guess… it's just a possibility that hasn't escaped me. Like, maybe that's why we stopped having sex."

"We stopped having sex because you weren't around to have sex with. The nights you did come home I was already asleep when you got here and by the time I woke up you were gone. In fact, I tried. I woke up in the middle of the night no matter what I had to the next day and you could not have been the least bit bothered. You always wanted to shower and go to bed. You didn't want to touch me, hell, you wouldn't even look at me. No matter how many clothes I wasn't wearing you always just wanted to shower and then sleep." The memories ripped through her and she found herself out of breath. Worn, hurt, and weak, she continued, "You stopped wanting me! Not the other way around, Dante."

"I've never not been attracted to you," he admitted but stopped himself from going any further. "I…"

"Don't worry about it. We don't have to talk about it now. We can always talk about it tomorrow… in counseling… We have an appointment tomorrow at 10am."

**Author's Note:** I forgot what it's like to finally finish a chapter…even a depressing one. It feels good. Wait for more to come. Thank you for your patience. Please don't forget to review.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven**

Their argument had taken all the warmth out of the room and there was no solace under their large comforter. Lulu curled her legs and wrapped her arms around herself, but it wasn't enough to stop her shaking. In a fit of exhaustion and frustration she threw the blanket off her and raced to the thermostat. "You know… you'll just wake up sweating in the middle of the night and have to turn it off," Dante called out to her for their bed as she sparked the heater to life.

"I can't wake up in the middle of the night if I never actually get to fall asleep."

"Being cold isn't the only reason you won't fall asleep," he provoked. "I'm sure Dr. Collins would agree that we probably should not go to bed angry."

"Figure that out when you earned your psychology degree." Dante sat up in bed and just watched her as she made her way to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. Her eyes caught hold of his as she finished her drink. "What do you want from me?" she asked defeated. Before he could respond she continued, "I don't want to have sex right now, because I don't feel sexy. Not because of anything stupid like not being attracted to you or wanting someone else."

"It's not about sex…" Her husband matched her tone. "I'm sorry about that." He got up from the bed and walked his way over to her. He stopped short of the bar just above the sink that separated his kitchen from the rest of his apartment. "I just want to be close to you."

"You also want to skip to the end… and we just had that fight. Why are we doing this again?" She hadn't intended to raise her voice, but it echoed throughout the loft anyway.

"Because… I feel guilty."

"For trying to pressure your wife into having sex?"

"I wasn't trying to pressure you. I'm just trying to get my head around… everything." He gave a deep sigh. "I feel guilty because I don't know what to do with myself."

"Because you're actually home?"

"Yeah. It hadn't really registered how much I haven't been around. I spent so much time today just sitting around waiting for you to get home. Hell, when I first got here I almost went to bed even though it was only five."

She softened with a small chuckle. "You should have called me. I can think of a long list of housework you could have done." He returned her smile as hers started to fade. "Why didn't you come home more?" Her demeanor suggested nothing accusatory, but cautiously hurt.

"Do we really have to do this right now? Didn't you say you wanted to save something for Dr. Collins?"

"What I want is for my husband to talk to me without needing a third party. I want my marriage and my life back… and I know marriage counseling is necessary… I just can't stop thinking about it. It's gotten to the point where I'm not used to you being home either and I don't like that. I don't like not knowing what to do when my husband is home before me. I don't even think we had dinner…" A grumble from her abdomen distracted her from her distraught rant.

Dante watched her confused face and let out a genuine gut laugh. "We didn't eat…"

"See… this is so weird we're going to starve ourselves." Her turned her back towards him and then sunk down against the cabinets until her landed on the cold tile. "We have no food!" she whined realizing that she hadn't found time to go to the grocery store.

"I think we can do without cold cereal for one night." He grabbed his cell phone from the coffee table and plopped himself gently next to her on the kitchen floor. "I'm sure it's not too late to order pizza."

"Getting the best food ever isn't going to get you out of answering my question."

"What was the question again?" He yawned and rested his head in her lap.

"Alright… You fall asleep on the kitchen floor. I'm still going to order pizza, and I'm still going to kick your ass tomorrow in marriage counseling."

**Author's Note:**

A few people had comments about Lulu's stance in the last chapter and some called her a victim. Lulu never once characterized herself as a victim and she has always taken responsibility for cheating on her husband. Dante is the one that blames himself for Lulu cheating and she has always taken a firm stance against that. The last chapter was about the fact that Dante wanted to skip to the end and just pretend like it all never happened which would not fix their marriage. If Dante blames himself for her cheating then why would he randomly throw it in her face in the heat of an argument? There was no place to bring it up because it wasn't about her cheating. They can't just get past her cheating and then pretend like Dante hasn't also mishandled their marriage too. That doesn't fix anything either. The last chapter was supposed to segue from the chapter before which addresses Lulu's affair with Patrick firmly and this one which was about address Dante's side of what had happened. The underlining point is that they both made major mistakes in their marriage, and this story is about them picking up the pieces to put their relationship back together. Neither of them are a victim. The only victim is their marriage itself.

Special Thanks to Summer/SoapNanny for stalking me on twitter. The kick in the ass I needed in spite of being sick and having the end of my semester crashing down on me. It feels nice to update again.

Thank you so much for reading and all your reviews. They are truly inspiring. Please continue. : ).


	8. Chapter Eight

[b]Song[/b] [i]Past[/i] Present

[b][u]Chapter Eight[/b][/u]

[i]It was still dark when Dante heard his alarm buzzing from behind their bed, and his wife mumbled as she rolled over in her sleep. He smiled as he watched her continue to sleep. She made the bed seem even more inviting in her peaceful slumber, and he thought about what he would give up to just to stay in it with her. The sound of his phone vibrating against the coffee table pulled him out of his hypnosis. It started with a few short buzzes that signified a couple of text messages, and then grew into the longer and more demanding which he knew were a phone call. He jolted out of bed and quickly answered it, "Falconeri." He felt the happiness of morning dissolve within himself as he listened carefully to the other side of the phone. "I'll be there right away."[/i]

Dante had remembered when he had started to fall asleep with his head gently rested on his wife's thighs, but he found himself on top of cold tiles rather than warm and soft skin. "Lulu?" he called out in a husked voice. No noises rang out against the silence to answer him, and he realized he had been left alone to sleep on the kitchen floor just like she had told him last night. His aching body slowly climbed its way off the floor and he went to the coffee table. A note staked upon an empty pizza box caught his attention. It read, "I forgot that my reports had to be turned into today. I'll meet you at counseling. Leftovers are in the fridge. Love, Lulu." There were worse ways to wake up, but alone was not the way he had intended to start off the day.

[b] Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away

Now it looks as though they're here to stay

Oh, I believe in yesterday[/b]

"You look like you have something on your mind, Lulu," the doctor broke their silence. They had been sitting listening to the seconds tick by on his clock. "Why don't we start there? What's on your mind?"

She appeared restless in her seat with her fingers in constant motion from where they sat in her lap. "I, uh…" Her eyes moved to Dante's eyes and the awkwardness washed over her. She took a deep breath and then allowed herself to answer the question. "I've asked Dante a few times why he worked so much… and he never answers." From her peripheral she could see Dante shaking his head as it fell into his waiting hand.

"You asked me when we were both tired and hungry, and you let me pass out on the kitchen floor," he retorted without even trying to restrain his anger. He caught sight of her rolling her eyes. "What?" he yelled unabashedly.

"You keep making this be deal out of waking up on the kitchen floor alone, and all you're doing is just trying to distract me so you don't actually have to answer the question! You're the one who chose to fall asleep on the floor, and you could not have expected me to stay there with you! It's a cold, hard floor, and you need to get over it. And as far as waking up alone; you don't like it, but I don't like it either yet I always am. So tell me why!" With each point her voiced raised, and she was nearly out of breath after she finally began shouting. She had to take a moment to calm her nerves, and then continued in a solid voice. "We're supposed to be working on our problems to salvage our marriage. This is one of our problems!"

"Why are you hesitant to talk about this subject, Dante?" Dr. Collins interjected.

[i] The small hit Dante first as he had reached the destination of the crime scene, and for a small second his imagination reeled as it what could have caused it. It smelled the way sour tasted in his mouth, and was starting to cause his eyes to burn. It had been a prelude to what he was about to see. "And they just left the body like that?" Dante was working overtime to stop himself from gagging at the unsightly state.

"One hell of a morning, huh," his sometimes friend joked while pinching his nose and looking away. "How is the wife?" Ronnie continued while mentally trying to take soap and water to his memory.

"What the hell is that?" Dante couldn't take his eyes off the figure on the floor no matter the consequence to his nervous stomach. On the ground before them looked like pooling blood on a soaked carpet of a nice suburban home. In the far corner was a heap of red, purple, and white. It reminded him of the leftovers his uncle, a retired butcher, would toss in a special bucket.

"It used to be a girl."[/i]

[b] Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be

There's a shadow hanging over me

Oh, yesterday came suddenly [/b]

[i]They had gone through great pains to discover the identity of the scrap heap as more and more disturbing details continued to flow in from forensics. It made Dante shiver as each new fact climbed his way into his focus and displaced what he thought he already knew. "Are you going to go home at some point?" Ronnie pulled his attention away from the photo.

"Yeah…" The fact that he was not paying attention was a dead give away to his partner that he had no intention to move from his desk.

"I don't understand what is wrong with you. You have a beautiful wife at home and an open and shut case on your desk. We just put a serial killer behind bars. I think you're allowed to sleep now. Particularly with a wife like yours," as Ronnie finished it became apparent Dante was still not listening. "I could tell you what I would do if I had a wife like Lulu…" He tried to bait him. "I mean, with a body like hers… the things I could do…"

"It's a wonder your life left you, Ronnie," Dante's callous words at least sparked a moment of acknowledgement. "Don't talk about Lulu like that…. In fact, don't talk about Lulu at all."

"Someone has to…"

Dante slammed the case file hard enough on his desk to shake it as he bolted from his chair. "What the hell is your problem! What about my marriage is your business?" He yelled and grabbed Ronnie's shirt in his fist.

Ronnie put up his hands open fisted, and responded through a calm smirk. "I'm your friend, and I was worried. You've been sleeping in the break room as if you live here. You're not a uniform. You're a detective which means that at some point in time you get to go home… I mean… when you're showering in the locker room on a regular basis something ain't right."

"It's my business," Dante disentangled himself and sat back at his desk. [/i]

"I was just focused," Dante dismissed the situation as if every other detective in history did the same thing. "It started with the Lector case, and after we closed it I kept getting more and more cases across my desk. That case made my career and I couldn't follow it up with failure."

"When… did your career become more important than our marriage?" Lulu asked with slow caution, and paid special attention to not sound accusatory.

"It wasn't more important than our marriage," he started and took a deep breath before continuing, "our marriage wasn't going anywhere. I knew you weren't going anywhere… At least I didn't think you were. I already had you, and this was supposed to be my chance to make it…"

"Make it? Make what, exactly? You're a detective!" His wife interrupted.

"So, Dante, are you admitting that you took your marriage for granted?" asked Doctor Collins.

"I did. I thought the fact we were married was all that mattered."

"But me as a person didn't? I was just your wife and therefore no long meant anything?" It pained him to hear her words as tears reached her eyes.

"No. Of course not, you have always meant everything to me. I was just stupid. I thought that you would forgive me, because you knew how much my job meant to me. I have been struggling to get respect at work after finding out who my father was."

"I don't understand…" Lulu wiped her eyes. She slouched over as her hands fell into her lap enabling her elbows to rest on her knees. "I'm really trying to. I just don't get it. How did wanting to do well at work mean that you could never come home? Or that when you did come home it was like I didn't exist or I was a burden to be around?"

[b] Why she had to go

I don't know, she wouldn't say

I said something wrong

Now I long for yesterday [/b]

[i]The brown paper bag that fell on his desk pulled his attention like a loud clap of thunder. "I didn't want you to starve to death," his wife said to him with a plastered smile in order to keep appearances. "I'm going to assume you want to eat alone?" She had softened her voice to nearly a whisper.

"Yeah, I'm kind of busy."

"You didn't come home last night." Dante detected the hints of worry in her voice. "You slept here again?"

"Yeah, he was just easier. I've got a big case that I'm working on." Dante stood up from his desk. "I really need to get back to work, but thank you for… this." He gestured to the bag. "I'll see you later."

"Sure," she nodded. She step forward to give him a simple kiss on the lips that she had not felt for quite some time, but he dove last minute to for a light peck on the cheek. Then, he walked away. [/i]

"You were never a burden," Dante answered quickly. He turned in his seat to face her. One of his hands rested on her shoulder while the other took place on her leg. She was still hunched over with her head in her hands. "I was the burden and I knew it. I figured it was easier for the both of us if I just stayed at work. I didn't know how to come home anymore." The hand he had on her shoulder started to lightly comb through her hair with his fingers while tears stung his eyes. In a moment of clarity he choked up and admitted, "I knew that I had messed up so much that if I went home there was a good chance that you had gotten so used to me not being there that you didn't need me anymore." He nearly ran out of breath. "I didn't want to face the fact that I had basically removed myself from your life… our life."

[b] Yesterday love was such an easy game to play

Now I need a place to hide away

Oh, I believe in yesterday [/b]

[b][u]Author's Note:[/b][/u]

More very soon. Thank you guys so much for being patient with me. I haven't forgotten my other stories either.

Thank you so much for reading and all your reviews. They are truly inspiring. Please continue. : ).


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine**

"Do you need a minute?" The qualified therapist asked before he was willing to continue. Dante reached to grab a tissue from the box the man was offering, and looked to Lulu who could no longer find the energy to wipe her tears. They just kept coming.

"Lulu…" he whispered and gently started to caress his wife's shoulder and she turned toward him without lifting her head to meet his eyes. He sat the tissue in his lap and pulled her completely against him. Her head rested on his shoulder and melded against his neck. His arms were tightly secure and his hands rubbed the areas they could reach. "Can I have a minute with my wife, please." It was less of a question than it was a demand.

"Mr. Falconeri, this is my office, and we're making progress here…" Kevin cautioned.

"Let's just go home," Lulu mumbled into what was the space between her husband's neck and chest. It sounded nearly incoherent to the rest of the natural world, but was as clear as day to him.

"You're right," he said to neither of them in particularly. "I think we're done for today, but thank you. We'll still pay for the entire allotted time."

"I'm not so sure that is a good idea…" Dr. Collin's stood up from his chair just as Dante was pulling Lulu off the couch while still holding her close to him.

"We've made our decision, together… that should be a good sign. We'll see you next week," Dante quickly interrupted the professional, and then embarked on what felt like an endless journey home even though they were only a few blocks away. They could have just as easily walked back to their loft and had more reasons to talk as little. The only sound that filled the car was Lulu's struggle to regain a normal breathing pattern. Each quickened huff from her lips felt to him like the air had been taken from his body instead, and worse than the physical reaction was the acknowledgement that he could not say anything to change what had happened.

"Lulu… we need to talk about this," he said the moment they entered the loft and sat down on the couch. "We're home, and we're alone… let's just have this out."

"I have no idea what to say. I have no words!" she yelled and winced when her voice echoed against the walls.

"Maybe… maybe I wasn't explaining myself properly… or just said the wrong…"

"You asked for a divorce!" He could see her entire body shake from where she was sitting on the edge of the chair adjacent to the couch. Her newly harnessed anger pushed her tears back and she continued, "I asked you if you wanted a divorce! You said no!"

"I don't want a divorce," he replied as calmly as he could.

"Then why ask for one!" The sharpness of her voice reminded him of when he had said the fateful words in the first place.

"It just came out. There was no thought behind it… it was the heat of the moment and you were so angry… I was getting angry… we were really getting into it and then it just happened. I wanted to take it back the instant I said it, because I do not want to end our marriage. I am fighting for our marriage."

"Maybe you're fighting yourself," she said weakly as the anger left her body limp. Her voice cracked, "maybe instinctually you want this all to be over, and that's why you said it."

He fell off the couch and onto his knees right next to her feet. His wide eyes full of terror and his hands clinging to hers. "I do not want this to be over. I do not care how long or what it takes to make everything right…" He searched for more words, but his body quaked beneath him.

"No divorce," she put simply wiping her soggy cheeks. It was a loaded statement begging the question.

"No divorce," he confirmed as he stood to his feet. She got up and folded themselves together on the couch. Her legs spread across his lap with her back against the armrest. One of his hands was firmly locked with hers on top of her stomach while his other hand rubbed the thigh. He wanted to tell her how much he missed them being casual like this, but feared putting a curse on the moment.

"Maybe we're going about this all wrong," she interrupted his thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

"We're doing this the responsible way that healthy adults would do it. We're going to marriage counseling, and doing a checkless of steps… we're putting off having sex… I'm putting off having sex. On paper we're doing everything we're supposed to be doing." He nodded in agreement, but his eyes looked confused. "When have we ever been responsible healthy adults! I'm crazy," she admitted as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and caused him to chuckle in agreement. "When we got married we weren't responsible healthy adults…"

"Isn't that the problem though? How we ended up this way?"

"Maybe. Maybe not, but do you really think that this way is working?"

"Kind of… I don't know. We're talking."

"We're talking at home. Right now in this moment, we are paying $500 an hour that we cannot necessarily afford ourselves for someone else not to listen to our problems." He followed her logic. "We're seeing a marriage counselor not because we need him, but because that's what we're supposedly should to be doing. Maybe it has already served its purpose and the rest is up to us?"

"We've only had a couple of sessions and you want to quit?"

"I want to lock us in our home and just hash everything out all at once, really see if we can truly forgive each other, and then move forward. It's the quick and dirty way of solving marital problems."

"And what if it doesn't work? What if we go through all that all at once and we don't forgive each other?"

"Then we're probably never going to forgive each other in the first place," her voice was remorseful until she forced a smile on her lips. "We know the worse parts already and we're still here. So… I like our chances."

"I don't know… I want to believe it would be that easy, but there's a reason people like Dr. Collin's are trained in his area."

"I don't think it's going to be easy. I think it will be the single most terrifying and painful moment in my entire life… but I think it is what makes the most sense for us. We've both been through counseling before and it has its moments. I understand it's purpose, but I think we need to do this. And… just think of it this way… If we do this my way you could laid this month."

**Author's Note:**  
Thank you so much for reading and all your reviews. They are truly inspiring. Please continue. : ).


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

"So… who starts? How does this work? Do we need rules or something?" Dante's voice reached a confused higher pitch at the end of each question. He could feel his palms begin to sweat, and he rubbed them on the leg of his pants. He hadn't felt this nervous since the night he proposed to her when he was still under the impression that she did not even want to get married. Even then she said 'yes' immediately and everything was smooth sailing all the way until the wedding.

He had nerves of steel when it came to the big day itself. Everything had come together quickly, because Lulu didn't understand the point of an engagement when the whole purpose was to get married. He arrived at his own wedding over an hour early, because there was only so long all the brothers could keep him waiting. Lulu showed up over an hour late as brides do. Later called him 'pathetic, but cute' during the reception.

Every part of his body wished he could go back to their wedding and start their marriage all over again. "Lulu?"

"Maybe we should just ask questions and answer honestly? Do we really need more rules than that? " She replied awkwardly.

"Were you in love with Patrick?" He dove in head first making them both wish they had readily available booze, but this was too important to wafer through.

"No. I was in love with someone wanting me, and I was in love with him falling in love with me. I was never actually in love with him. He was just a distraction." He drowned in every word she spoke and she begrudgingly let them fall from her lips. "Do you think you'll ever be able to touch me knowing that I let someone else?"

"Yes," he answered after a long pause.

"Would you want to?"

"Yes." This time there was no hesitation. "Do you think if I start working again, if I get a big case that takes me somewhere else or a lot of time, that this will all happen again?"

"No, because I'm pretty sure we'd end up divorced. Do you really think we could handle going through this again? We're only managing to handle it now."

"No… I mean, if I can't come home during the case. After the case, there'd be no stopping me. Never again."

"During a case… you'd be working. When you work on a case… even when you come home you're working. I don't… If you're knee deep in a case that demands all your attention…" She welled up and couldn't find the right words. She didn't want to describe his work as the other woman in their relationship, because she had been the one with another man. That didn't take away from the fact that she was painfully aware that her husband loved something else more than her. "No… we would be fine if you just called once and while, and maybe said 'hi' before you jumped in the shower, 'bye' when you are about to take off again…"

"Don't do that!" he demanded with his eyes squarely focused on her. "We're supposed to be having this out." His anger was evident on the way the veins appeared in his neck, his fist tightening, and his speech coming between grinded teeth. He was making a valid effort not to yell. "This was your idea, Lulu! It's not going to work if you're going to do the same old crap like before."

"Fine!" she burst. "I hate your job! I hate that you'd rather work than come home, and that there is nothing I can do about it. I hate that you can get so wrapped in your work that your life stops, but that your work is so damn important and means so freaking much do you…" She took a deep breath once the shocked look on his face began to register. "Even before we were married… even in that first year we were together… your work was always first. I knew that then, I accepted it, and I supported you. I had to keep things from you for the longest time because of your job. I have had people that I used to care about leave me, because they could not handle your job. It's too compromising. At first it was just compromising the safety and security of some of my family… your family, but now it's compromising our entire relationship. It has been for a long time. That time off you took right after we got married was the single best time I have had in my entire life. …Then you went to work. It was like having different husbands, two different marriages. One with a man who truly loves me, and the other who is itching to get called away for days or weeks at a time." After her abandon, she regretted every callable she spoke, and her mind started to back track. "I love you. I really love you, and I know that your job is important… a part of you. I'm not expecting you to change careers or anything… I'm sorry. That was…"

"Honestly…" he interrupted her. His insides felt like they had just been run over by truck and then scrapped off the pavement. "Don't apologize. You were supposed to tell me everything… You think I have put my job before you our entire relationship?" He was searching through his earliest memories of them trying to grasp how he could have made her feel that way, and struggled with the sinking feeling that she wasn't wrong.

"Yes. We spent most of our time together just talking about how you felt and your job. I'm not complaining… I know it sounds like it… I'm not complaining about them. It's just something I've known. It was always a fear… like, they'd offer you another undercover assignment that would take you away for years at a time… and you'd jump to take it as if you always had a bag packed ready to go. You would just leave me."

"I'm not your father!" he barked.

"I never…" In her mind left field couldn't even understand where that remark had come from.

"I am not your father, I am not one of your brothers, and I have never given you any reason to think that I have just left you. Even when things were falling apart I still came home to grab a change of clothes. And it would have been so easy to just back a bag or find somewhere else to live, but I stayed because you are my wife!"

"I don't know what to say to that..."

"I was offered a job… to go undercover… a few times. I could have gone back to the NYPD, but I wouldn't leave you. The last time they asked, I actually considered it, because I wasn't sure that if I did just disappear that you'd notice."

"I always notice!"

"Well… I decided not to go, didn't I. I stayed because I am committed to this marriage." The comment punched Lulu in the stomach. They were both too aware that she hadn't been. He tried to catch his breath as she held hers to keep herself from crying. "I'm sorry. That was low…"

"No, it's not… but I can't keep doing this. Are we ever going to be able to put that behind us? I want to take it back, but I can't. It happened and no matter how much I try to beat myself up for it… it doesn't change anything!"

"I forgave you. I really have. I understand why you'd want to be with someone else."

"I don't forgive me! And I don't want to be with someone else! I wanted to be with my husband, but it wasn't exactly an option… That's still not an excuse. They make toys for that."

Dante couldn't stop himself for laughing which created a smile on his face that was contagious. "That's all you wanted him for, right?"

"Sex and company," she answered as she looked down at her fingers resting her lap. She could never admit that to his eyes.

"Then, that's how I'll think about him. Like a toy and television" he chuckled. "… which I would recommend if you every get lonely again, but I'm not going to let that happen. Though… toys… we could try that…"

"Hold your horses. We haven't gotten that far yet…" She felt as if color was started to come back to her body at the innuendo.

"I love you… more than any other person, and certainly more than any job. I will never let you forget that."

**Author's Note:**  
At some point in time last week I considered making this the penultimate chapter… Talked about it with some people and the votes were tied. SoapNanny ended up being the deciding vote, so the story will be continuing. Thank or blame her.

Thank you so much for reading and all your reviews. They are truly inspiring. Please continue. : ).


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven**

Lulu sat on the edge of the table opposite of where Dante had sunken his body into a chair. Her eyes were soft and focused on his, but she couldn't open her mouth to speak. Everything word she had ever longed to her had escaped his lips. Everything she felt she needed to tell him, needed him to know, so that she could finally forgive herself... it was all out there painting the walls with the silent echoes.

Dante leaned forward in the chair and rested his hands on her thighs. His thumbs rubbed small circles. "Well…," he gave a nervous laugh. "I don't… I don't know… what to say…"

"That's a first," she quickly quipped.

Instead of immediately responding to her, he let the smile spread across his lips, a brightness return to his eyes, as certain thoughts came to his mind. He leaned in and gave her a smile kiss, the kiss that says 'hello' or 'goodbye.' The continued the kisses until they increased in intense lingering and lasted longer. Her fingers started to cup his face and then worked their way into his hair. They gave light tugs. He pulled her off the table until they were standing. As they slid up together his hands moved to the back of her tights and moved up her backside. One of his hands continued to kneed her ass. The other hand played with the end of her shirt where it rested against her side, and his thumb feeling any available skin.

Without warning she pulled away giggling. His face was red as he stood there astounded. She put her face in her hands to hide it from his as she sought refuge on the furthest corner of the couch. "I'm so sorry!" she shouted to him through a series of hearty laughs.

"What the hell is so funny?" he demanded, and sat next to her on the couch. Her back was up against the arm of the couch, her arms hiding her face away, and her legs folded up next her, blocking her body. He reached out laid his hands on her legs and began to rub them again. The sounds that left her body had gone from laughs to something akin to laughing and crying at the same time. She had probably lost her breath. "What's going on?"

"I'm nervous!" she shouted again and he found himself chuckling. "Don't laugh." She reached for the nearest throw pillow and wacked him. "It's not funny…."

"Why are you nervous? We've had sex… I think we stopped counting after the first two weeks…"

"I feel like I don't know what I'm doing…"

"We both know that's not true!" He had very vivid memories of her teaching him things he had never known about, and trying things he had never had the opportunity to try before. The closest they had ever come to a dull moment was when they were half asleep and had to sweat themselves awake.

"I felt less nervous our first time," she admitted sincerely.

"Were you nervous our first time?"

"Of course. Were you?"

"Ah… not really… I guess, a little bit. I didn't want to be disappointing… or not fit…" The seconds the words left his lips Lulu found herself doubled over and unable to catch her breath. "I know size matters." He shrugged his shoulders as the ridiculousness sunk in.

"Size does matter," she said as if she were taking pity on him with a smile. She slowly crawled her way on top and straddled his body where he sat. "You definitely fit." She leaned down and kissed him with a renewed intensity. His hands felt the magnetic pull towards her ass and clubbed the cheeks. He pressure on her ass caused her to rock against his lap. She could feel him solid beneath her. She felt taunted by satisfying memories of how he felt and tasted. She started to pull at his clothes in a hastened frenzy.

"Slow down…" he whispered in to her neck before giving it a small bite. He lifted them off the couch together and started to make their way to the bed. He stopped short of the dresser and placed her on it. Unable to resist himself any other, he lifted her shirt, and started to lay open mouthed kisses along the top of her breaths that were left exposed by her bra. She clawed at the buttons of his shirt until he finally ripped it away.

She had been pushing herself so hard against him that she started to slip off the dresser just as he was removing the bra. "Take me to bed," she forcefully demanded and he obliged.

He laid her softly on the bed before pulling away from her completely. "I don't want this to be over quickly." He began to undo her jeans, tugging at the pant legs to pull them down. "I want this to last a very… very long time," he told her as be pulled down her underwear. He took a moment to admire his work; his wife completely flustered and naked under him. He slowly pushed her legs apart and took notice the obvious dampness. "Wow," he commented before letting his finger lightly brush against her outermost wetness. He watched as her entire body tensed. He lowered himself onto his knees and pulled to the edge of the bed. He unconsciously licked his lips as he pulled her closer to him and lowered his mouth. His tongue reached out and gave a light lick. Her body squired against his head and she was fighting back embarrassing noises. There was a second lingering lick to tease and then he began to flick his tongue with abandon against her. The strumming of his long caused her hips to move erratically. She was constantly jumping whenever his tongue found that perfect spot and then continued to hone on it.

The orgasm took them both by surprise. He had grasping her thighs that were wrapped around his shoulders, trying to hold her against his mouth, and she had lost all control over her body's motions. She made no effort to stunt her loud moans. All the nerves congregated together and created a sudden burst of warmth right under his tongue. "What are you doing to me!" she demanded as he continued to lick up the mess he created. Her leaned up on her elbows and began to watch him doing his handy work. She witnessed his tongue give one last long lick. "You made me tired… too tired." She slammed herself back into the bed with a satisfied smile.

He didn't speak, but rather slowly began to work his way out of his own pants. His boxers hit the floor and his hand wrapped around himself. "Do you see what you've done to me?" he asked, looking directly into her eyes, as he continued to pump his own penis. She looked transfixed as she watched him. "Still tired?" She shook her head and began to move her way into the center of the bed without prompting. He got up on to the bed until he was completely in line with her. Instead of making a quick entrance, he nudged her legs apart and lowered his tip into her slit. He can to rub his penis directly against her.

"You must be trying to kill me," she moaned.

In a swift motion, he slammed his penis in to her and right back out again. He groaned and she grasps his thighs to pull him back. He invaded her again and her legs locked around him tightly to keep him there. His hips began to slowly rock against her and he could feel her insides spreading around him. He lowered his head to her neck. His lips dragged down her neck and across her collar bone. The more she whimpered directly in his ear the quicker his motions became.

"I'm going to come," she gasped. Her muscles rippled against him, quickly clamping down and coming apart against his penis. She wailed loudly and he continued to pound his way into her feeling the waves become less frequent, but still intense. He let a cry as he felt a stream work its way out of his body and began to continuously come inside his wife.

His arms gave out and he landed squarely on top of her. "After this…," she struggled to speak from a mix of satisfaction and exhaustion. She began to rub his tired back. "We are finally going to christen that fire escape."

"Just give me ten minutes," he replied out of breath. "Let me recharge and we'll be good to go."

**Author's Note:** I have said before that I was nervous about starting this story, because I was worried about how people would react to Lulu having an affair. Also, just because I didn't have them have a perfect marriage in general. I was also incredibly nervous starting Of Something Beautiful, but Annihilating, and as the story goes on that will make sense to people. Never before have I been so anxious about a single story, plot, or chapter than I have been about this one. There has been a lot of pressure for Dante and Lulu to reach this direction, because I do actually read every comment. I take everything that people say to heart, and everyone kind of jumped to this conclusion. I have never written real sex before even though I am a fan of when other people do. I am also very picky about smut, even more so with me writing it. I hope it was worth it, because it is collectively all the reader's fault. : ).

Also, a special thank you to SuzyQ for the advice, and my friend Alicia, who I basically torture under a regularly basis.

Thank you so much for reading and all your reviews. They are truly inspiring. Please continue. : ).


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve**

Dante watched his wife sleep from where he stood in the kitchen pouring his second cup of coffee. She lay facing the other direction. Her arms were stretched above her head grasping the pillow that was covered by her hair. He paid special attention to her bare back as the thin sheet that covered slipped further away with very small movement.

He did not understand the importance of good sheets until he had gotten married. He was perfectly comfortable on the bargain thread-count cotton from any random department store. It was all his mother could afford his entire life, and he gave it very little thought when he moved out. Lulu opened up a whole new world when she moved in with a brand new set of satin sheets. They were cool and slid smoothly along his skin. It felt like the embodiment of perfect after a night of passion.

Lulu slowly rolled over. She had migrated to his side of the bed. As she lay on her stomach her fingers started to inch around, searching for him, and her face nuzzled his pillow. It had been so long since he had witness her longing for him in such an innocent and organic way. She wanted him and not just to satisfy some animalist urge he was extremely fond of.

Under his gaze, her eyes opened with sadness. She clutched the empty space in the bed and pulled the sheet up to cover her exposed chest. "Good morning," he called out while silently cursing himself. So many nights had already passed where they didn't get to wake up in bed together. They finally reconciled and he was stupid enough to jump out of bed for quick jolt. "I made the coffee. Didn't want to leave you to your own devices and end up drinking dishwater again…" His feeble attempt at a joke wore thin with himself before he was even finished saying it.

"Morning," she replied meekly while trying to regain her facilities. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and pushed any dark thoughts to the back of her mind. It was a momentary fear that was clearly unfounded… or so she tried to tell herself. She put on a smile and looked at him. She caught sight of him in his usual boxer briefs, and looked his body up and down. The vision before her both calmed her fears and excited her physically. "You said something about coffee?" He had prepared a mug full and began to walk it over to her. As he slowly glided across the room, she could see every part of his anatomy reacting. Her body was having reactions of its own. The memories of the night before played behind her eyes. She took the cup of coffee from his hands, and gave it a slurping sip.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Do you have to work today?"

"No… I kind of planned ahead," she continues even though talking was not necessarily at the forefront of her mind. "When we decided to… talk things out, I decided that I was going to need a few days off. If we didn't work things out… I couldn't imagine how I'd cope… If I would even be able to get out of bed… If I'd have a bed to get out of…"

"Did you think we wouldn't?"

"No… I don't know. I was always hoping we would. I took a wild guess and thought we'd be too… busy… for me to go to work if we did work it out." She was blushing, she could feel it, and it felt good to be bashful for her own husband. It felt good to see him be bashful for her.

"I like that." He leaned over and panted a passionate kiss directly on her lips. Kiss after lingering less until she felt the warmth in her hands starting to sleep. They pulled away and he took the mug from her hands. "The last thing we need to is to spend our celebratory day in the hospital taking care of third degree burns."

"Yeah… the hospital would be the worst part!" She rolled her eyes and got out of the bed. She slipped on her underwear and a t-shirt. "I'm starving. If this is going to continue, then you need to feed me. Quickly."

"I could go to Kelly's…" he offered. He jumped off the bed and started to put on a pair of pants.

"Do you think they deliver pizzas this early? Not really a big fan of either of us leaving this place just yet." From behind him, his wife watched as he motioned to get the jeans over his ass. "Just think of all the things we could be doing while we wait for the delivery… the things we wouldn't be able to do if you were… not here and I was left to my own devices."

"Oh… you think you'd start without me?" He smiled coyly and turned to her. He liked the images his imagination was cooking up of her alone in the middle of their bed and withering around while she pleases herself. She simply shrugged her shoulders and turned her back to him to look on the fridge door at delivery fliers. "Have you ever done that before?"

"Yeah…" She shrugged again. "Hasn't everybody."

"It's just that… we've done a lot of things… a lot of really," he started to say through grit teeth while the wonderful memories passed through his mind. "…really wonderful and fun things, but you have never done that for me." He entered the kitchen and found himself directly behind her. His hands rested at the top of her shoulders and rubbed their way down her arms. He reached her wasted and pulled her even closer against him.

"Usually you're too busy being an active participant." She turned around in his arms and leaned until there their lips were only millimeters apart. "I prefer it that way. More fun for me," she whispered before completely closing the tiny distance between them. One of her hands reached behind him and slip into his back pocket giving her enough leverage to pull him even more against her. He accidentally slammed her into fridge. 

_**To be continued…**_

**Author's Note:**  
I felt antsy to follow up the last chapter… My family has kind of invaded my world for a moment and I don't feel comfortable writing dirty things around them…. So here is what I had so far. Plus, it would be a good idea to get some suggestions over what should happen.

Thank you so much for reading and all your reviews. They are truly inspiring. Please continue. : ).


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